Ashes (The Firebird Trilogy Book 1)

by Stephanie Harbon

  Kieran smiled arrogantly, “I think I speak for everyone when I say you can shove your ‘vision’ up your hairy-“

  Before he could finish the sentence the half-breed sprang at him, hissing something in a foreign language. Instantly Kieran dived out of the way, searching for a Gaborah blade that wasn’t there. The creature crept closer now. Kieran had no weapon. Why? Kieran always had a weapon. Lynk took it from him earlier, I realised. Crap, crap, crap.

  Recklessly I leapt up onto the stage to stand between Kieran and the beast. A noise ripped out of my throat instinctively. I bared my teeth threateningly. The Daemon hesitated for the briefest of moments. To my surprise Lynk lifted his hand, palm up. It growled, but otherwise obeyed.

  Lynk looked at me curiously, “Why would you want to protect him?”

  I glared, “Nobody deserves to be eaten by a genetically modified bat.”

  “What do you want, Ruby?” Lynk wondered. “If you surrender, you could help bring freedom to the children of Kariak.”

  I shook my head furiously, “I may look like you, I may sound like you, but in my heart I’m English. And the English never surrender.”

  He shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

  A chant boomed out from Lynk. He spoke in a complicated ancient language. I turned to stare at the crowd, dismayed, as the pairs of eyes dimmed in synchrony, their features transforming into blank unresponsive expressions. They were easily overpowered.

  Panicked, I glanced to Kieran. To my great relief he didn’t look affected; for whatever miracle made him immune to the noise, I was grateful.

  Up until the point he grabbed someone’s blade and began running at Lynk. I tried to yank him back, seeing the creature behind him, but he slipped through my grasp. Now I screamed as they closed in on him. There were too many. Suddenly something pressed against my back.

  Lynk’s chant was intensifying now, growing louder and stronger. Four people were climbing up onto the stage, their faces as dead as zombies. I realised that they were the four male Council Elders. The male Earth Elder was Kieran’s father. He stumbled along with empty eyes.

  I saw the Daemons push Kieran to his knees; their many purple eyes watching him inescapably. He froze then, defeated, if he moved he would die.

  I guessed if I moved I’d be stabbed too.

  As I watched, Lynk moved towards the Water Elder. The man held out his hand and Lynk drew up a dagger and sliced it along his palm. Beads of bluish blood instantly formed, changing to red as it dripped onto a piece of parchment Lynk held. I had no idea what he was doing. I couldn’t decipher the unfamiliar symbols on the material.

  Lynk broke his chant for the briefest of moment. “I am sorry, my brothers. You may forget legalising this, but I need your agreement to get what I want.”

  He returned to chanting, bringing up the knife to the next Elder. My heart was pounding; sweat coated my skin like an extra layer of slippery skin. A memory suddenly flooded through my head, Kieran was with me in my room, persuading me that my voice can be used for good. I glanced up at Lynk and thought; this is as good a time as any.

  I opened my mouth, unleashing my voice. But as soon as the sound released I felt a sharp stab of pain shoot around my neck, cutting off the flow of energy like a choke chain.

  I screamed in agony. What was happening? I was gasping, my vision distorting, my eyes uncontrollably rolling towards the floor.

  “Ruby,” somebody called. “It’s you’re necklace!” It was Chara; I caught a glimpse of her blurring silhouette.

  Her words made sense despite the biting confusion and I struggled determinedly against the excruciation, trying to pry the necklace Lynk had given me off my skin. I screeched as the pain intensified and the Daemon grasped my feeble hands. Lynk was still in control. I could stop it. I knew I could. I just needed to get the damn thing off!

  I fought against my better judgements, and the anguish; bashing my fist with all my strength against the Daemon restraining me. It stumbled back, hissing for an instant. In that second I reached the chain around my neck. It had tightened dramatically, cutting into my skin. I struggled to get a grip on it as the Daemon advanced. Just in time I looped my finger underneath the marked metal, ripping it with all the force I could muster. I heard the necklace snap. The pain instantly disappeared.

  Lynk was raising his knife to the last Elder, the man with transparent hair and a heavily lined face. I glanced down at my hands, clicking my fingers the way Jayson had taught me, to spark a flame. I leapt forwards instinctively, tearing the parchment out of Lynk’s hands.

  I staggered back, raising the flame to the parchment. It lit satisfyingly fast, disintegrating into a hundred fragments of burning ash. Lynk looked at me furiously but before he could do anything I raised my voice and threw everything I had at him, screaming stop. He stumbled back, more in surprise than anything else, and I heard as the crowd awoke from the enchantment.

  The Elders looked down at their hands in shock and sudden pain. The blue-eyed Elder glared at Lynk. His booming voice echoed across the room, “Warriors!”

  Kieran broke free of the Daemon just as a swarm of people began to attack. Lynk was staring with his jaw gaping open as his followers were battered by thousands of avenging Phoenix. The half-breeds began climbing the walls, retreating up through the ice rafters. However, retreating to the sky wasn’t a great idea when fighting birds. A few people Changed fully, fighting the monsters in the air, tearing at their legs with their talons.

  Lynk didn’t have the time to use Chyun’ju as he was plagued by the masses. He fought back, but more Phoenix flooded though; overwhelming him. All of the half-breeds had either been killed or had escaped. Eventually the stage cleared so that only the seven Elders, both male and female, were there looking down at Lynk on his knees with two blades at his throat. Kieran, Adrian, Nik, Chara and Briseis came to stand beside me at the foot of the stage.

  “Your offences are unforgivable, Lynk,” snarled the blue-eyed Elder. “Not only did you break the law on several different accounts, you invaded every Phoenix in this room in the worst possible way. Also creating those things,” he shuddered. “It’s an outrage. For this you shall receive the Ultimate Curse.”

  Lynk looked unbothered by this, or the blades at his throat. He said simply, “I doubt that’s going to happen.”

  I saw it before anybody else did. I sprang forwards to try and stop it but I was too slow. Kieran’s father, the Earth Elder, had plunged a knife into the Water Elder. The blue-eyed man sunk to the floor immediately, blood spurting from his chest. Kieran’s father now had a knife to the ancient red haired woman.

  “That’s why.” Lynk said calmly.

  Why hadn’t I predicted this?

  I heard people gasp in horror, staring down at the body of the dead Elder in disbelief. Adrian ran towards his father but he clutched the knife closer to the Fire Elder and wailed, “If anyone comes any closer, I’ll kill her.”

  Adrian froze. I froze. Everybody froze.

  “Let him go, now,” snapped Kieran’s father and automatically the guards released him, backing away. Lynk slowly straightened up.

  “Everybody stay back,” Lynk ordered. “It seems that things haven’t exactly worked out as I hoped,” he said composedly, “but I will get what I want. I had tried to make you see, but you are all too foolish to understand.”

  “You don’t understand anything!” I screamed, “Anything at all.”

  He didn’t even look at me as he said, “Briseis, get Ruby, we’re leaving.”

  This stopped whatever words were formulating on my tongue.

  What?

  A knife was pressed against my throat; strong arms wrapped around me, restraining my powerful wings with supernatural strength. A terribly familiar scent filtered through my system.

  Briseis.

  She was working for Lynk.

  From the corner of my eye I saw Kieran move towards me but Briseis screamed at him, “Hold still Kieran or I swear on my life I’ll kill her.
”

  “That isn’t much of a promise,” Kieran said, “You’re life means nothing to me anymore.” But he held still.

  I saw Adrian gaping at Briseis. “Bris?” he asked weakly, the look in his black eyes was devastating. “Briseis. What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like I’d doing idiot?” she snapped, her voice had harshness in it that I’d never heard before.

  “I don’t understand,” he said quietly.

  Her face was so close to mine I could actually feel the snarl in her words, “I’m not surprised. Humans are less intelligent.”

  A sound rippled through the crowd, like gasps of surprise. That was it, Adrian’s secret was out.

  “Enough, Briseis,” Lynk commanded. “Stop playing with the boy, and get what I want from his brother.”

  “Go forwards,” Briseis hissed in my ear, shoving me towards Kieran. “Drop your blade,” she told Kieran, who didn’t respond. His blade stayed firmly in his hand, his knuckles clenched white over the silver pommel. “Drop it,” she said more sternly, “Or you know what I will do.”

  Kieran glared at her, but dropped the blade.

  “How long have you been working for Lynk?” Adrian suddenly demanded.

  Briseis laughed harshly, “I’m not working for him. I’m working with him. If you remember, I was the one who got you access to the scrolls that got us out of Kariak. I led us to the Lake District; to Ruby. I was the first to agree to go back to Kariak. And I,” she paused dramatically for a moment, “poisoned you all. It was me who put the idea into your heads that the reason you were getting ill was because of the ‘pollution’.” She sniggered nastily. “I just wanted to come home sooner.”

  For once Kieran was speechless. I must admit, I didn’t exactly know what anyone could say to that. She’d been betraying us secretly from the beginning. My body felt numb. I didn’t know what to think. All those times I’d spoken with her as a friend, trusting her, laughing with her, sharing my secrets. It had all been a lie. Lynk must have known everything. Why had she done it? How could she? I didn’t understand.

  “Briseis,” Lynk said patiently. “Enough boasting and get the chain.”

  “My Lord,” I could feel her nod. “Kieran, give me the chain from around your neck.”

  Kieran looked down, artificially confused, “I don’t think now is really a good time to compare accessories.”

  “Do it, now,” she ordered, the blade at my throat tightened. I winced as fresh blood trickled down my neck. Why does this always happen to me?

  Kieran read the pain in my eyes, carefully unclasping the gold chain from around his neck. He clutched it tightly in his palm, not moving. “What do you want with it?”

  “No questions, give it Ruby,” Briseis snapped, then spat at me, “Hold out your hand.”

  I held out my trembling arm, palm upwards.

  I didn’t feel anything fall onto my hand.

  “What do you want with it?” Kieran repeated firmly.

  Briseis grabbed a knife in her other hand, slashing it across my bare arm. I screamed, and then tried to bite my lip against the noise, my jaw clenched determinedly. Tears swam in my eyes, but I looked pleadingly at Kieran. Don’t give it her, I thought to him, but a weight fell onto my hand.

  As soon as I saw it on my palm I realised something. The markings were exactly the same as those on the chain my mother had given me; only arranged in a different order.

  I was roughly yanked towards Lynk and he snatched the chain from my grasp. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode. Kieran’s father still held the Air Elder at the tip of his blade. Lynk, Briseis and Kieran’s father silently exchanged a significant look.

  Briseis held me still for a moment, as if waiting for something.

  A loud shrieking noise punctured the tense silence. I winced, instinctively covering my ears with my hands. It did nothing against the explosion that suddenly erupted. A powerful wind collided with the crowd, sending people crashing and toppling into each other. The earth shuddered, savagely quaking the delicate building. I glanced towards source, my heart clenching, as one of the four columns that supported the ice structure cracked.

  Time seemed to slow down. There was a terrifying, unforgettable moment when everyone took a deep breath, and then the column began collapsing.

  Discordant screams filled the air as people rushed to get out of the way of the shattering building. Dangerous fragments of ice broke from the ceiling, plummeting to the ground as huge deadly icicles. A high-pitched shrill sound rose above the noise, and to my horror I recognised it.

  Half-breeds flew through the air, shrieking with demented delight. Two scooped down, grabbing me as Briseis let me go. They hauled me into the air with their strong sharp claws and inhuman vigour, their leathery wings beating fast. We were free of the tumbling ice in seconds. They didn’t stop flying despite my furious protests, and clutched tighter when I kicked at one of them; sinking their sharpened claws into my flesh.

  The Winter Palace was disappearing rapidly behind me, along with many lives that had been trapped underneath it.

  I screamed over the chilling wind, struggling to get free, but then they dropped me. The drop was sudden. I screamed as I landed on the dirt, my head connecting with a rock. I felt myself being dragged away as the impact stole my consciousness.

  Darkness wrapped around me like a pair of black wings.

  About the Author

  Stephanie Harbon was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1994, while her father was working there. She moved back to beautiful Derbyshire at the tender age of three and lives there with her parents, German Shepherd Max and snake Chara. When not writing she likes to practice Taekwon Do, of which she has now been a devotee for nearly ten years. (She has a 4th Degree black belt) From a young age she loved reading and writing and decided, when just thirteen, to write her first novel. She loves fantasy but wanted to write something different from the usual crop of vampire, witch and werewolf stories. Ashes her debut novel has taken a long time to write but she is now planning a follow-on story and once readers have become involved in the amazing world that she has created, they will be waiting impatiently for her second book.